All of these shows were planned long ago, without any special knowledge of who would be inaugurated as president of the United States in just a few weeks. Nevertheless some feel particularly prescient, or at least notably relevant, especially those that deal in social justice. Even the exhibitions that don't have protest and human rights in their heart may find it at their door. Art is always also informed by its context, and its context is right now.

"Embodiment Abstracted: The Influence of Yvonne Rainer": Since the 1960s the choreographer Yvonne Rainer has been credited with bringing everyday movements into the highly trained world of dance. Ten works of video, taped event, and live performance examine her diverse impact on artists including Gregg Bordowitz and Natalie Bookchin, and how they've expanded Rainer's vision to focus on specific figures: people living with AIDS, in poverty, in rural settings, in aging bodies. We need such earnest and embodied representation. Jan. 13-March 4, Gallery 400, 400 S. Peoria St., 312-996-6114, www.gallery400.uic.edu

"Vostell Concrete, 1969-1973" and "Fantastic Architecture: Vostell, Fluxus, and the Built Environment": Continuing the University of Chicago's yearlong celebration of Wolf Vostell, these two exhibitions examine in detail the late German artist's material of choice and his often fantastical proposals for modifying architecture. If inflexible, permanent concrete seems unsuitable to playful critique of the status quo, prepare to be surprised—and to want a cement mixer of your own. Jan. 17-June 11, Smart Museum of Art, 5550 S. Greenwood Ave., 773-702-0200, smartmuseum.uchicago.edu; and Jan. 22-March 17, Neubauer Collegium, 5701 S. Woodlawn Ave., 773-795-2329, www.neubauercollegium.uchicago.edu

"Chicago's Henry Darger": This year marks the 125th birthday of the city's most famous outsider artist. Multiple exhibitions consider the relationship between Darger's 15,000-page novel and the hand-worked images mistakenly assumed to be their direct illustration; the radical strangeness of the Vivian girls, the seven ambiguously-gendered sisters he invented and repeatedly portrayed; and artists including Adolf Wolfli and Ken Grimes who, like Darger, have created their own extensive alternate realities. Sometimes the world as it is demands escape. Yearlong programming beginning Jan. 20, Intuit, 756 N. Milwaukee Ave., 312-243-9088, www.art.org

"Kapwani Kiwanga: The sum and its parts": In her first U.S. solo show, the Canadian artist deconstructs the design of institutional spaces, from workhouses to reformatory schools. Expect a gallery transformed by the calm two-tone color palette of hospitals, plus the addition of historical and contemporary wall sections, lighting fixtures and more, for an experiential environment meant to condition both care and surveillance. Jan. 20-March 12, Logan Center, 915 E. 60th St., 773-834-8377, www.arts.chicago.edu/logan/gallery

"Eugene Eda's Doors for Malcolm X College" and "The Wall of Respect: Shards, Fragments and Legacies": The mayor has declared 2017 the Year of Public Art, and that means a celebration not only of the city's favorite monuments but more critically the ones that have been lost. Some of the most significant were the work of the Black Arts movement during the Civil Rights era, including a cacophonous mural of African-American cultural and political icons, and a series of 32 doors that boldly represent black bodies throughout art history, from ancient Egypt through Renaissance Italy, tribal Africa and the modern age. Jan. 21-June 25, Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St., 312-744-6630, www.chicagoculturalcenter.org

"Kader Attia": Known for his attention to processes of repair, both of the traumatized body and of postcolonial societies, the French-Algerian artist has been conducting research at Northwestern University's Herskovits Library of African Studies. The largest collection of Africana in existence is sure to generate a provocative response from Attia, who in past installations has used materials ranging from couscous to foil and carved wood in response to histories of slavery and xenophobia. Jan. 21-April 16, Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston, 847-491-4000, www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu

"Merce Cunningham: Common Time": The beloved American choreographer revolutionized modern dance both through the movements he designed and his innovative collaborations with, among others, his lifelong partner composer John Cage. On display will be sets by Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, films by Charles Atlas, Nam June Paik and Tacita Dean, costumes by Rei Kawakubo, an installation of silver helium balloons by Andy Warhol, and a series of new commissions by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and the Ballet de Lorraine. Feb. 11-April 30, Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave., 312-280-2660, www.mcachicago.org

"Helio Oiticica: To Organize Delirium": In his too-brief career, the quintessential Brazilian artist moved from brightly colored geometric works on paper for looking at to brightly colored geometric works in real space for entering into. This first U.S. retrospective promises Amazonian parrots, troughs filled with sand, and artworks that can be tried on. Prepare to be helpfully immersed in a time and place when form, function, play and politics were united in protest against an oppressive military dictatorship. Feb. 18-May 7, Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Ave., 312-443-3600, www.artic.edu

"Revolution at Point Zero": Women of the world unite in this exhibition of radical feminist social practice. Projects include Laura Anderson Barbata's repatriation of the embalmed remains of Julia Pastrana, a 19th-century indigenous Mexican mezzo-soprano exploited in life and death as the Ugliest Woman in the World; and Marisa Jahn's CareForce, which activates on behalf of domestic workers and caretakers via a souped-up 1967 Mercury station wagon, choreographed dance routines, and trading cards featuring care providers rather than sports stars. March 9-April 24, Glass Curtain Gallery, 1104 S. Wabash Ave., 312-369-6643, colum.edu/revolution

"Open Engagement 2017 — Justice": For the first time since it began organizing dialogues around socially engaged art in 2007, the largest artist-led conference in the world is coming to town. Local presenters on this year's timely theme include Theaster Gates, Maria Gaspar and Laurie Jo Reynolds. Artists, students, activists, administrators, educators, writers and everyone else committed to seeking a more just world through the arts are invited. April 21-23, various venues on the University of Illinois at Chicago campus, www.openengagement.info